THE VENETIAN LINK
THE VENETIAN LODGE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
----+--------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------
1. | 1407 | Mistro Lorenzo da Vielino | _Gastaldo_ or Grand Master.
| | |
2. | 1423 | M. Scipione Buono | Built the Loggia near the
| | | Rialto.
| | |
3. | 1430 | M. Zambono (Giovanni Buono) | Architect of Ca d'Oro, and
| | | sculptor of capitals in the
| | | Ducal Palace.
| | |
4. | | M. Bartolommeo Buono | { His sons who worked with
| | | { him in the Ducal Palace up
5. | | M. Pantaleone " | { to 1463.
| | |
6. | 1441 | M. Elia da Bissone | Sculptured the door to the
| | | Fraternità dei Calzolai.
| | |
7. | 1442 | M. Cristoforo da Milano | Built the tower at Udine.
| | |
8. | 1448 | M. Giorgio da Como |
| | |
9. | 1449 | M. Lorenzo q. Martino da } |
| | Lugano } |
| | } | All Lombard Masters who
10. | | M. Giovanni da Marco } | received pay in the Venetian
| | } | Lodge for work in the Ducal
11. | | M. Anicino } } | Palace.
| | } Lombardi } |
12. | | M. Luchino } } |
| | |
13. | 1482 | M. Antonio da Modena } |
| | } |
14. | | M. Andrea d'Acre } | The Council of Administration
| | } | when the Masonic Lodge was
15. | | M. Antonio Negro } | built at S. Samuele.
| | } |
16. | | M. Bonazza } |
| | |
| | | { Father of the famous Pietro
17. | 1476 } | M. Martino Solari da Carona | { Lombardi, _Proto_ (chief
| to } | | { architect). He designed the
| 1488 } | | { Scuolo di S. Marco.
| | |
18. | 1488 | M. Moro Lombardo | Son and assistant of Martino
| | | Solari. _Proto_ of S.
| | | Zaccaria in 1488. Bernardino
| | | and Francesco (No. 20 and No.
| | | 21) were his son and
| | | grandson.
| | |
| 1484 } | | { _Proto_ of the lodge from
19. | to } | M. Antonio Riccio | { 1484 to 1491. He carved the
| 1491 } | | { Adam and Eve.
| | |
20. | | M. Bernardino da Bissone | Son of No. 18. He assisted
| | | Riccio in the sculptures of
| | | the Cortile.
| | |
21. | | M. Francesco, his son |
| | |
22. | | M. Domenico Solari |
| | |
23. | | M. Paolo Bregno } |
| | } | Sculptor-architects related
24. | | M. Lorenzo Bregno, his } | to Antonio Riccio or Rizo.
| | son } |
| | |
25. | | M. Bartolommeo Gonella | _Proto_ till 1505. He came
| | | from Milan.
| | |
26. | 1505 | M. Bartolommeo Buono | Succeeded him. He built the
| | (descendant of No. 4) | upper part of the Procuratie
| | | Vecchie, and the church of
| | | San Rocco.
| | |
27. | 1509 | M. Manfred de Polo | Grand Master.
| | |
28. | 1516 | M. Pietro Lombardo, son of | Founder of the Venetian branch
| | Martino Solari | of the Lombardi. He designed
| | | the Scuola di San Rocco.
| | |
29. | 1517 | M. Giulio Lombardo } |
| | } his | Worked under their father,
30. | " | M. Tullio Lombardo } sons | and all became famous.
| | } |
31. | " | M. Antonio Lombardo } |
| | |
32. | " | M. Giovanni Fontana | A descendant of M. Fontana da
| | | Campione. He was master of
| | | Palladio, and built the Palace
| | | of the Commune at Udine. His
| | | family became famous at Rome
| | | and Naples.
| | |
33. | 1524 | M. Sante di Giulio | Built Scuola di San Rocco.
| | |
34. | | Mistro Matteo Fontana di | Architect of Belluno
| | Melide | cathedral.
| | |
35. | 1529 | M. Jacopo Sansovino | _Proto_ for the Procuratie
| | | Vecchie; he came from the
| | | Florentine Lodge.
| | |
36. | " | M. Guglielmo da Alzano | Carved some fine altars,
| | | and built the Tasca and
| | | Camerlinghi palaces.
| | |
37. | " | M. Gregorio } | Two brothers descended from
| | } da Carona | Marco da Carona of Milan.
38. | " | M. Giorgio } | They also worked at Udine.
| | |
39. | " | M. Simeone di Petro di Como | Was paid for sculpture done
| | | in this year.
| | |
40. | 1530 | M. Donato Busata } | Master architects, sons of
| | } | Ser Piero da Campione.
41. | | M. Giovanni Busata } |
| | |
42. | 1527 | Jacopo Sansovino | Called from the Florentine
| to | | Lodge to be _Proto_ of the
| 1534 | | Venetian one.
| | |
43. | 1548 | Gian Antonio Solari, of | Finished the church of S.
| | Carona | Giorgio.
----+--------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------
The connection of the Comacines of Longobardic times with Venice,
through the powerful Lombard Dukes of Friuli, and the Patriarchs of
Aquileja, their metropolitan bishops, has already been touched upon;
and we have mentioned the Patriarch Fortunatus for whom the Masonic
Guild built the churches of Grado and Torcello. The Comacines had, in
the eighth century, also built the Baptistery of Calixtus at Cividale,
and had sculptured the altar of Duke Pemmo in Friuli; in the twelfth
century they rebuilt the Duomo of Cividale for the Patriarch
Pellegrino.... This connection was still further strengthened, when in
1311 the Visconti conquered and exiled from Milan the Torriani family,
their rivals in the Signory there, who retired to Friuli, where they
soon acquired supreme power. Two of the family, Raimondo and Pagano
della Torre, had previously been successively Patriarchs of Aquileja,
and in 1317, Gastone, the exiled Archbishop of Milan, succeeded
Pagano. A second Pagano and a Ludovico Torriani followed him. The
Torriani were from Valsassina near Como, and would consequently have
had more interest in the Comacine Guild than any other, if other there
were; in fact the tombs of the Torriani at Primaluna and at
Chiaravalle show unmistakable signs of Comacine work. At Sacile in the
Friuli district the ancient church with three naves, built in 1400,
can show documents proving its architects to have been Beltramo and
Antonio, both of Como, and who form a link with the Roman Lodge. The
church of Gemona, on the mountains near Tagliamento, was built by
Giovanni Bono, another familiar Comacine name. The choir is in
transition style, _i.e._ semi-Gothic. The two aisles are divided from
the nave by a grand colonnade. The façade is of the style of Siena and
Orvieto, with cusped arches under triangular gables; it has a large
finely-traceried rose window in the centre, and a profusion of
statues. At Venzone, also near Tagliamento, is an ancient Lombard
church with characteristic sculptures, built in 1200. Here is a holy
water vase of a later period, of extremely fine and finished
sculpture, signed Bernardino da Bissone, 1500. Bernardino also
sculptured another holy water vase in the Duomo of Tolmezzo, and the
beautiful door of the church of Tricesimo. All these works prove the
close connection of our guild with the Patriarchs, who ruled over
Venice as well as Friuli.
Even in 1468, when the Duomo of Cividale was restored by Pietro
Lombardo, several of his brethren worked with him.
In 1420, the Venetians, led by Roberto Morosini, took Friuli and
annexed it to Venice. By the treaty of Lodi in 1454 they added
Bergamo, Brescia, and Crema. Many Lombards flocked to Venice at that
time, and the Masonic Guild had its schools and _laborerium_ there.
From that date the Masters of the guild were known in Venice as
"Mistri (Masters) Lombardi." Merzario dates from this epoch the
renewed connection of the Comacine Guild with Venice, but it must have
begun much earlier than that, if it had not continued unbroken from
Lombard times. A lodge must certainly have existed in Venice from the
time when the first Maestro Buono (Vasari's Buono) went there in 1150.
It is unlucky for history that the original Freemasons, being a secret
society, kept no archives. It is only after the twelfth century, when
other art guilds were formed on the same system, but without the
secrecy, that we get an insight into what had been, all the ages
through, the management of the guild. At Siena, as we have seen, the
painters seceded in the thirteenth century from the universal
brotherhood, and founded their academy of painters, the sculptors
following their lead. They, not being bound to secrecy, let the world
know their statutes and their customs.
The same thing took place in Venice. On September 15, 1307, the
sculptors appealed to the Signory of Venice for permission to form
statutes and hold chapters under the denomination of the _Arte de
tajapiere_ (stone-cutters). They were not at liberty to form a Masonic
or building guild, because the original one had then the monopoly.
Sig. Agostino Sagredo,[278] in his valuable work on the building
guilds in Venice, says--"While we are speaking of the Masonic
Companies and their jealous secrecy, we must not forget the most grand
and potent guild of the Middle Ages--that of the Freemasons.
Originating most probably from the builders of Como (_Magistri
Comacini_) it spread beyond the Alps; Popes gave them their
benediction, monarchs protected them, and the most powerful thought it
an honour to be inscribed in their ranks. They, with the utmost
jealousy, practised all the arts connected with building, and by
severe laws and penalties (perhaps also with bloodshed) prohibited
others from the practice of building important edifices. Long and hard
were the initiations to aspirants, mysterious were the meetings and
the teaching, and to ennoble themselves they dated their origin from
Solomon's Temple." This monopoly would account for none of the
Communes having a civic guild of architecture; and their secrecy
explains the want of documentary evidence in the earlier centuries,
while the monopoly was undisputed.
The new local branches of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were
evidently absolved from secrecy; they started fresh as independent
companies, and thus freed, art was able to expand more largely. With
this light on its formation, it is interesting to find in the Venetian
Guild of sculptors, organized in 1307, the self-same rules and
government as in Siena, and all the other cities. We find the school
and _laborerium_ and the usual Administrative Council of four
_Soprastanti_ elected on the first Sunday of every month, the outgoing
officials having to instruct the new ones. In Venice the Grand Master
of the Lodge was called, as in the ancient Lombard Lodges, _Gastaldo_;
the chief architect of a work was designated in more classic language,
_Proto_.
On the third Sunday of the month every Master of the _arte_ was
obliged to pay a gold _soldo_ to the company, which money was only to
be spent for the use of the school.
Again a marked similarity. At the beginning of November the feast of
the _Quattro Coronati_ was kept,[279] and no one was to work on that
day under pain of a fine of 100 soldi. There is the usual rule about
every Master bringing a wax candle when he attends a meeting, and on
the day of the Patron Saints the candle must weigh four ounces. The
fines for those who absent themselves from the _fête_ of the Patron
Saints are the same as at Siena, and so also are the rules about
matriculation of members, the making of contracts, the introduction of
foreign Masters, etc.
The first name of a _Gastaldo_ or Grand Master in the Venetian Lodge
is a Mistro Lorenzo de Vielino in 1407, who makes a law that no Master
shall have more than three _fanti scritti_ (apprentices?) besides his
own sons or brothers. Sagredo says that the Masters in all these
_arti_ were a privileged aristocracy, whose sons were allowed to enter
the guild without the usual novitiate.
In 1509 Mistro Manfred de Polo was Grand Master, and decreed a kind of
census. Every Master was obliged within eight days to hand in a list
of his relatives in the guild and the apprentices in his studio.
[Illustration: THE CA' D'ORO, VENICE. DESIGNED BY MAGISTER GIOVANNI
BUONI (ZAMBONO) 1430 A.D.
_See page 389._]
The head-quarters of the lodge were in the little street known as the
Piscina di S. Samuele. The _Opera_ was a large building, not much
decorated, but there was a fine relief by one of the Lombard Masters
over the door. This was removed, and preserved by the Government
when the building, no longer needful for its former use, was sold. The
altar of the _Quattro Coronati_, sacred to the guild, was in the
church of S. Samuele close by. Here too were the tombs of the brethren
of the lodge. Unfortunately none of the funereal inscriptions remain.
Cicognara has, however, preserved two inscriptions on the building of
the lodge, which are valuable as additional proof of the guild. One
beneath the relief on the façade runs--
MCCCLXXXII ADI XXV MARZO.
IN TEPO D(i)MA' ANTONIO DA MODON (Modena)
E SO COMPAGNI MA' ANTONIO NEGRO
E MA BONAZZA E MA' ANDRA (Andrea) D'ACRE.
E SCRIVAN MA' DOLZE (Dolce).
Here we get the names of the four members of the ruling council in
1482, all _Magistri_, and that of the notary of the guild, Maestro
Dolce.[280] Another inscription on the staircase, which was rebuilt in
1686, announces that the stairs were built by the gifts of the
brethren under the Gastaldo Maestro Domenico Mazzoni, and then follow
the names of his three companions in office, one of whom is Vincenzo
Minella, and that of the notary.
If we now trace some works in Venice we shall see how intimately
connected this lodge was with that of Milan and other branches of the
guild. In 1430 we find Zambono engaged to decorate the Ca d'Oro or
Palazzo Contarini on the Grand Canal. In his aim at magnificence good
Giovanni Bono of Como not only made the work a masterpiece of Gothic
ornamentation, but he gilded his sculpture till it was refulgent. It
appears that this Zambono, who could not spell his own name, was not
such a master of the pen as he was of the chisel, for his son
Bartolommeo signed the contract for him on April 20, 1430. The gilding
was done by Giovanni da Francia, whose son Francesco signed for him.
Bartolommeo Bono worked much with his father, and later his younger
brother Pantaleone joined them, and became more famous than either of
them. To these three we owe in a great measure the reconstruction and
decoration of the Ducal Palace, which in the first place had been
built by Justinian and Narses. At the end of the tenth century, the
Doge Pietro Orseolo restored Justinian's building. To this restoration
belong probably some of the fine mediæval capitals of the columns of
the Loggia, of which we have given an illustration on page 253. It has
been said that Marino Faliero, when Doge, engaged his friend and
fellow-conspirator Filippo Calendario to make a plan for a new palace,
but no proofs of this, nor any designs are to be found.
Authentic documents, however, prove that a meeting of the Grand
Consiglio was held on September 27, 1422, in which it was proposed to
"rebuild the palace in a decorous and convenient form." On April 20,
1424, the decree went forth that the old walls were to be thrown down,
and the façade rebuilt. The first Masters mentioned in the books are
the three Buoni. A minute, dated September 6, 1463, registers that the
Salt Office should pay "Maistro Pantalon," sculptor, for the work done
for the Ducal Palace--that this work included many other works besides
the figures; and that it should not remain incomplete, the Doge wished
it to extend across the piazza and up to the last built
Sala[281]--_i.e._ the Sala del Squittinio. This would include all the
façade and its colonnades, with the internal Sala del Squittinio and
Scala Foscara leading to it, on which is placed the statue of
Francesco della Rovere.[282] The part of Bartolommeo, brother of
Pantaleone, was the Porta della Carta, of which we speak in the
chapter on decoration. Their father Giovanni (Zambono) must have died
about the time the palace was finished, which was May 13, 1442, for on
November 25, 1443, Bartolommeo writes himself in a notarial act as
"Ego Bartolommeus lapiscida q. ser Johannis Boni."
[Illustration: DUCAL PALACE AT VENICE. THE SIDE BUILT BY THE BUONI
FAMILY.
_See page 390._]
Part of the palace was burned not many lustres after, and in 1484,
Antonio Rizo or Riccio was nominated _Proto_ for its rebuilding. He
came to Venice with good recommendations. He was the son of a deceased
Magister Giovanni Rizo, as we see in a deed of June 25, 1484, where he
is nominated as "Ser Antonius Rizo lapiscida q. ser Joannis de
contrata sancti Joannis Novi," and had been in the East, where he
built the fortifications of Scutari, for Antonio Loredan. His
fortifications resisted the attack of the Turks so well that they had
to raise the siege, and Antonio, who was wounded, was rewarded by a
pension for himself and children, and by the appointment of chief
architect for the Ducal Palace, when it was restored after the fire.
It would seem that the façade built by the Buono trio had not been
injured, as Rizo turned his attention to the inner court, which he
built in a beautiful style, together with the great staircase, now
known as the "Scala dei Giganti," from Sansovino's two giants, which
were added--not much to the grace of the stairway--in 1566.
Bernardino da Bissone, and Domenico Solari of Val d'Intelvi, both Como
Masters, assisted in the sculpture of the beautiful balustrade. Riccio
has the characteristic Comacine mixture of round arches in the
foundation, and pointed ones above. He added a third colonnade, in
which the round arches again appear. It is all enriched by exquisite
sculptural decoration; the frieze of Nereids and sea-horses on the
third order is very fine.
Selvatico attributes also to Riccio much of the side of the palace
towards the prisons. The two statues of Adam and Eve facing the
Giant's Stairs are signed in the plinths, one "Antonio," the other
"Rizo." They are fine works of sculpture, which have been wrongly
attributed, in spite of the signature, to various persons, such as
Antonio Bregno, and Andrea Riccio of Padua. A proof of Rizo's
lengthened tenure of the office of _Proto_ is given in a document in
the Venetian archives quoted by Cadorin. The document, dated October
10, 1491, is an order from the Magistrates of the Salt Office, who
were at the head of the Administration of the works of the Ducal
Palace, "to increase the salary of Rizo Antonio, _Proto_ of the
building works, from one hundred and fifty ducats to two hundred, as
the former salary was not enough to support his family in his old age,
and also having regard to his long and valuable services and fatigues,
and the necessity of retaining him, for the prosperity and the beauty
of the said building."[283]
Another document, quoted by Merzario from the Diary of Marin Sanuto,
seems to throw a cloud over the close of Antonio's head membership. It
seems that 10,000 ducats were missing from the accounts of the works,
and that Antonio, being unable to explain it, sold all his
possessions, and shouldering his belongings went towards Ancona and
Foligno. This entry is dated April 5, 1498.[284]
[Illustration: COURT OF THE DUCAL PALACE AT VENICE. DESIGNED BY
MAGISTER ANTONIO RIZO OR RICCIO
_See pages 391, 392._]
It is difficult to say who is the Antonio Bregno that is accredited
with Rizo's works. There was a Lorenzo Bregno, a sculptor to whom
Sansovino attributes the statue of the General Dionisio Naldo of
Brisighella (died 1510), which is placed above the door of San
Giovanni e Paolo. There was also Paolo Bregno, father of Lorenzo,
but the name of Antonio never appears in the books of the
Administration, nor in any archives as far as Sig. Merzario can judge
after a diligent search. As the Bregni were related to Rizo, it seems
probable that this is another misleading case of nicknames, and that
the chief architect's family name was Bregno; so that Antonio Rizo was
only Antonio Bregno, the "curly-headed"--from _riccio_, a curl.[285]
After Riccio, a Magister Bartolommeo Gonella, who died in 1505,
succeeded as _Proto_, and then Magister Buono succeeded him. Buono was
probably a grandson of the last Bartolommeo, son of "Zambono." This
man, who signs himself "Bartolomeus de Cumis lapizida," had been a
sea-captain, and sailed in the fleet of Melchiorre Trevisan. On his
return in 1498 he resumed his hereditary profession, and in 1505 was
nominated head of the building works of St. Mark's, which were now
occupying the guild. The upper order of the "Vecchie Procuratie" was
built under his supervision. The church of San Rocco, built in 1495,
was, however, his first great work in Venice, and the next was the
restoration and heightening of the tower which another of the Buono
family had built in 1150, more than three centuries earlier.
When in 1516 the erection of the "Scuola di San Rocco" was proposed,
Bartolommeo Buono, the head architect of the "Vecchie Procuratie," was
unanimously elected. However, when he had drawn his design, and the
edifice began to rise, a certain knowing brother of the confraternity
(_un tal saccente confratello d'essa_) censured the plan of the
stairs, and the work was suspended. Maestro Buono would not
relinquish his design, and retired; on which Pietro Lombardo was
elected in his place to continue the building. Here we have again a
distinct proof of the Masonic organization, and see that in Venice
they held their meetings to consider the work of their brethren, just
as they had done in Milan, Siena, Florence, etc.
In 1529 Maestro Buono died, and Jacopo Sansovino was nominated _Proto_
of the Procuratie in his stead. One of Buono's principal assistants
was Guglielmo da Alzano, near Bergamo.[286] He sculptured a beautiful
altar in the Servite church on the commission of Madonna Verde della
Scala. It is now removed to the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. The
great altar in the church of S. Salvadore is also attributed to him.
He was a famous builder as well as sculptor, and was architect of the
Camerlinghi Palace, at the foot of the Rialto in Venice. The beautiful
Tasca palace at Portogruaro, of which the richly-sculptured doorway
was brought to Venice, was his design, as well as the fine gate at
Padua called the "Portello," and the "Porta di S. Tomaso" in Treviso.
Several other more familiar Comacine names are found in Venice, such
as Gregorio and Giorgio of Carona, whom we have seen sculpturing at
Udine;[287] Bernardino di Martino of Bissone, and Andrea from Milan.
Francesco, son of Bernardo of Como, Simeone of Pietro, sculptor from
Como, with Donato and Giovanni Busata, sons of Ser Piero da Campione,
are all mentioned in the Transactions of the Guild in Venice about
this time. A contract is reported in the _Archivio Veneto_ (vol. xxxi.
anno 1886, fasc. lxii. p. 169), signed on July 26, 1476, "between the
Fraternity of S. Maria in S. Daniele and Maestro Giorgio, sculptor of
Como, who, having made several statues for S. Giacomo in Udine, is
herewith commissioned to make three figures in stone for the door of
S. Maria in S. Daniele, _i.e._ a Madonna and Child and two angels, the
statues to be figures, that may by any good _Magister_ be judged
worthy and beautiful."
Then comes a name which has become synonymous with the beauty of
Venice--the Lombardi family--to whom are attributed all the principal
late Gothic and Renaissance buildings that enrich the city. As usual,
the name by which the family has come down to posterity in the
histories of art is nothing but a misleading nickname. The Venetians
called them the Lombards. Just as Vannucchi is called Perugino, and
Allegri is called Correggio, so the Solari family were known as
Lombardi. They were among the aristocrats of the guild, however, whose
ancestors had been eminent men for more than a century. We have seen
Marco Solari, and his son Antonio, and also his grandsons Cristoforo
and Guiniforte, at work at Milan, where Marco, Guiniforte, and Pietro
Antonio were successively chief architects. The Lombardi-Solari of
Venice appear to have been another branch of the family, equally
descended from Giovanni da Carona, through his son Martino, the father
of Pietro Lombardi (Peter of the Lombards).[288]
Martino was the architect of the Scuola di San Marco, near SS.
Giovanni e Paolo. His name appears before that time as "Mistro Martino
tajapiera," when he was, in 1476, sent to Istria to _sbozzare_ the
marbles for the sculptures on S. Zaccaria, of which he was architect,
though his ancestor Antonio di Marco had begun it in 1458. At the
Scuola di San Marco, his son Moro, brother of Pietro, assisted him,
and on Martino's death Moro became _Proto_ of the works at San
Zaccaria, his son Bernardino and grandson Francesco assisting him. The
books of the Administration of that building have notes of payment, in
1488, one "to Bernardo, sculptor, son of Moro our _Proto_," and
another executed on July 20, 1488, where it is written, "And I
Francesco di Bernardo, sculptor from Como." Other papers prove the
sons of Pietro Lombardo as being Giulio, Antonio, and Tullio. In
Tullio's sons two old family names are revived--Marco Antonio and
Sante.
To this family may be attributed a large part of the finest fifteenth
or sixteenth century buildings of Venice. Pietro's elder brother Moro
built the church of S. Michele at Murano between 1478 and 1481; and at
the same time designed and directed the building of the Vendramin or
Loredan and the Corner Palaces. Moro had been before employed by the
Loredan family to build a part of the church of S. Maria in Isola at
their expense. No doubt he was assisted by his numerous relations in
the guild.
To Pietro Lombardo belongs the design for the fine exterior of the
Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista. In 1475 he sculptured the
beautiful monument to the Doge Pietro Mocenigo, a grand design with
seventeen life-sized figures carved in Istrian marble. His sons Tullio
and Antonio assisted in this. In 1481 he restored the Scuola della
Misericordia, and finished the ornamental gate of the Scuola dei
Battuti. In the same year he won in a competition for designs for the
church of S. Maria de' Miracoli, and became head architect of that
masterpiece of Renaissance architecture. Here he has curiously revived
some features of the old Lombard architecture of his ancestors in art.
He has made a raised tribune with a dome, but it is square instead of
semi-circular, and he has placed two ambones or pulpits, as in the
early churches. Pietro could build in Gothic style as well as
Renaissance, as is shown in the cusped and pinnacled façade of S.
Cristofero della Pace at Murano. The original Torre dell' Orologio on
Piazza S. Marco was also designed by him.
On March 14, 1499, he was nominated _Proto maestro_ of the Ducal
Palace in place of Antonio Rizo. Seguso and Selvatico attribute to
him, with his sons and nephews, the rich and beautifully sculptured
capitals of the pillars which support the lower arches "from the Court
of the Senators to the second part of the building"; and the internal
façade of the side towards St. Mark's, which Selvatico pronounces one
of the finest examples of Lombard style. In the interior of the palace
he restored the "Camera del Tormento," and built the hall of the
Council of Ten, the prisons over the Granaries, and the attic prisons
known as "I Piombi."
As a sculptor he was of remarkable genius. Two signed statues in the
church of San Stefano, one of which represents S. Antonio, are of
extreme beauty, as is the magnificent high relief of the Virgin and
Child in the outer arcade towards the bridge. The monument to Cardinal
Zeno in S. Marco is a beautiful specimen of Lombard ornamentation. It
is rich with carven angels and saints, wreaths of flowers, and all
possible wealth of sculpture.
In about 1490 Pietro was engaged on a great work of architecture at
Treviso, where the bishop had commissioned him to improve the
cathedral by putting a new and ornate façade with a large window,
besides building three new chapels.[289] His sculpturesque tastes
outweighed his talent for architecture. He left the building at
Treviso in the hands of inferior Masters, and went to Venice to
sculpture in the _laborerium_ of the guild at San Samuele, the statues
and reliefs for its façade. The work not proceeding satisfactorily it
was suspended, and on Pietro Lombardo's death even his design was lost
in some mysterious manner. The church was not ultimately restored till
two centuries later.
He had also the commission to restore the older church of S. Maria
Maggiore at Treviso, and there, too, having made his design, he left
his son Tullio to execute it. Either for want of means, or
disagreements among the Masters, this also remained incomplete.
Probably Pietro had too many interests in Venice, where in 1514 he was
elected _Gastaldo_ or Grand Master of the lodge; in which office he
continued till his death in 1521, a date proved by his son Tullio
taking out papers of administration in that year. We have no
particular mention of any great buildings by Pietro's eldest son
Giulio, but he was greatly respected in the guild, for on June 3,
1524, the Chapter of S. Roch, while deliberating that "Mistro Bon,"
_i.e._ Master Bartolommeo Bono, a famous architect, should be
discharged from the office of chief architect (_Proto_) of the Scuola,
because he is _disobedient and not diligent enough_ (we perceive that
even a _Proto_ had some superior officers or council above him),
elected as _Proto_ in his stead a young Magister Sante, son of Giulio
Lombardo, but with the proviso that his father Giulio should be his
adviser in everything.
Antonio, Pietro's second son, won a certain rank as sculptor, but he
is better known in Padua and Ferrara. He removed to the latter city in
1505 with his family, and died there in 1515.
The third son, Tullio, however, was a bright star in the line. His
sculpture was so delicate, and he attained such tenderness in the
flesh of his marble statues, that it is thought he had studied under
Donatello when he was in Padua in 1450. His decorative sculpture may
be judged by the chimney-pieces in the chamber of Udienza, with its
antechamber, in the Grand Ducal Palace; by the doors of the Scuola di
S. Marco, and the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, all done about 1500.
The beauty and grace of his figures may be seen in the four kneeling
angels which support the altar of the Incoronation of the Virgin in S.
Giovanni Crisostomo; a most exquisite group. This work is signed,
"Opus Tullii Lombardi." The fine monument to the Doge Nicolò Marcello,
at SS. Giovanni e Paolo, and those of Marco and Amerigo Barbarigo, in
S. Maria della Carità, are also by him.
There is some confusion between the two cousins, Sante, eldest son of
Giulio, and Sante, the second son of Tullio. Sante di Giulio was chief
architect of the Scuola di San Rocco, from June 1524 to March 1527,
and all the finest part of the building is attributed to him. He built
the church of S. Giorgio for the Greek colony. This was finished in
1548 by Gian Antonio Lombardo da Cione (Carona), who was son of Pietro
Antonio Solari of Carona, so that in this church the Milanese and
Venetian branches of the Solari family meet, but the Milan branch has
kept the old name, while in Venice it has been merged in the place
name, and they are known as the Lombards. The Palazzo Trevisan, which
belonged to the family of Bianco Capello, was said to be from the
design of Sante.
We have followed up the Venetian architects sufficiently to prove that
they, too, had their links with the great Comacine or Lombard Guild.
Sansovino, who succeeded the Lombard Solari family in Venice, was a
Master trained in the Florentine Lodge, so even he was not extraneous
to the guild.
FOOTNOTES:
[278] _Sulle Consorterie delle Arti Edificative in Venezia_, capo ii.
p. 14.
[279] "I quattro martiri patroni de la dita arte cioè San Nicostrato,
San Claudio, San Castorio e S. Superian."--Sagredo, _Sulle Consorterie
è, etc._
[280] Agostino Sagredo, _Sulle Consorterie delle Arti Edificative in
Venezia_, capo ix. pp. 84, 85.
[281] Gualandi, _Memorie Originali Italiane risguardanti le Belle
Arti_, Parte vi. p. 108. Bologna, 1485.
[282] Merzario, _Op. cit._ Vol. II. chap. xxii. p. 16.
[283] _Notizie storiche intorno al Palazzo Ducale di Venezia_, p. 1,
by Gius. Cadorin. Venezia, 1838.
[284] Merzario, _Op. cit._ Vol. II. cap. xxii. p. 23.
[285] Monsignor Paolo Giovio wrote a poem on Antonio.
"Un Riccio nel contado all 'età nostra
Nacque di Como, che fu buon scultore
E l'opre di costui Venezia mostra:
Fece un Adamo, ch'è di tanto valore
Che di bellezza cogli antichi giostra," etc.
[286] To show how difficult it is to trace names through the queer old
documents, we may mention that this sculptor is sometimes written in
the archives as "Guglielmo Bergamasco"--probably he entered the lodge
at Bergamo--and sometimes "Vielmo Vielmi di Alzano."
[287] Merzario, _I Maestri Comacini_, Vol. II. chap. xxiii. p. 47.
[288] The parentage of Pietro is clearly proved by documents in the
Venetian archives. One is a deed dated Sept. 19, 1492, drawn up by the
notary Gerolamo Bossis. It confirms the will of Magister Petrus
Lombardus quondam Martini lapiciola. Another, dated Sept. 8, 1479,
drawn up by the notary Bartolommeo de Vegiis, begins--"Io piero
lombardo fiolo di ser martino de charona, tajapiera in Venesa in la
chontrada de samoele in casa del duse testimonio e scrive de mano
propria." Here Pietro tells us not only his father's name Martin, but
his birthplace Carona, a village near Arogno and Campione--the place
his relative Marco da Carona came from. In fact here we have the
Campionese school still surviving and sending forth fine artists.
[289] Marchese Ricci, _Dell' Architettura in Italia_, Vol. II. chap.
xix. p. 605.